The elk known as Elvis is now living like a king.

The once-wayward Marshall County elk is now being kept at the West Virginia State Wildlife Center in French Creek.

"He's living the high life!" said Gene Thorn, wildlife biologist in charge of the West Virginia State Wildlife Center.

Elvis is now officially known as Elk No. 200, and the State Wildlife Center should be the last stop in a long journey for an animal that one state didn't want and that another state wanted killed.

Pennsylvania refused to let the animal return, and many people in West Virginia wanted to kill the animal so it could be tested for chronic wasting disease.

"As an agency in West Virginia, the Division of Natural Resources is charged with protecting and managing wildlife for all the citizens of West Virginia, and we wanted to make sure that this particular escaped elk didn't represent any type of wildlife disease risk," said Paul Johansen, assistant chief in charge of game management for the West Virginia DNR.


However, ultimately it was decided that the elk would live and that it would be taken to the State Wildlife Center to be tested and monitored.

"All those potential diseases that we were concerned about, results came back negative," said Johansen. "So that bodes well for the elk."

The elk is still being monitored for chronic wasting disease -- the only disease that couldn't be tested for -- and is in excellent health.

West Virginia Delegate Randy Swartzmiller, a Democrat from Hancock County, was one of many state lawmakers to lobby on behalf of the elk. Swartzmiller said the best option would have been to return the elk to its home in Pennsylvania, but given the circumstances, this was the best result.

"I had people come up and say they would tune in to NEWS9 every evening just to see what the update on the elk was," Swartzmiller said, "So it was a good outcome for the elk."

After the elk was tested and quarantined for 90 days, he was moved into a service area of the Wildlife Center where he's now a part of the center's breeding herd.

"He's a very large animal for his age," said Thorn. "So, he's a good one genetically to add diversity to our heard here."

And while the elk should live comfortably at the center for the rest of his life, the transition hasn't been perfect.

"Anytime you introduce a new animal into a heard like this, there's a social structure pecking order, and they are still working that all out," Thorn said. "Just the fact that he was moved from Marshall County to here was a traumatic experience, and he's overcoming that."


-- Click here for more information about the Wildlife Center